Science

WASHINGTON — NASA is, for now, moving ahead with plans for a launch of the next crew to the International Space Station early next week as it watches an approaching hurricane. NASA held a flight readiness review Sept. 26 for the Crew-5 mission, scheduled for launch Oct. 3. The Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry NASA

Alien vistas: the universe as seen by Gaia. (Courtesy: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO/A. Moitinho) Earth is “well-hidden” to extraterrestrial observers using photometric microlensing to hunt for habitable planets that might support life, an international team of researchers has concluded. The findings could also help to narrow down the best areas of the galaxy to

LAUREL, Md. — A NASA spacecraft collided with a moon orbiting a near Earth asteroid Sept. 26 in a demonstration of a technology that could one day be used to protect the Earth from a hazardous object. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft hit Dimorphos, an asteroid about 160 meters across orbiting the larger

WASHINGTON — NASA will move the Space Launch System rocket from its launch pad back the Vehicle Assembly Building as a precaution for an approaching hurricane, a decision that may delay the Artemis 1 mission until November. NASA announced Sept. 26 that mission managers decided, after days of deliberation, to move the SLS from Launch

PARIS — NASA has revised and expanded a set of objectives it will use to guide its architecture for lunar and Mars exploration after receiving volumes of feedback from commercial and international partners. The agency released the revised list of 63 objectives to coincide with a presentation by the agency’s deputy administrator, Pam Melroy, at

WASHINGTON — A NASA spacecraft is on course to deliberately collide with a small asteroid Sept. 26 to test how that technique could be used to deflect a potentially hazardous asteroid. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, launched last November, is on a trajectory to collide with Dimorphos, a small asteroid orbiting the larger

NROL-91 was the Delta 4’s 10th mission for the National Reconnaissance Office WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite on a Delta 4 Heavy rocket September 24 at 3:25 p.m. Pacific from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. NROL-91 is the Delta 4’s final mission from

WASHINGTON — NASA has called off plans to attempt to launch the Artemis 1 mission on Sept. 27 as a tropical storm, with the potential to become a major hurricane, heads for Florida. NASA announced Sept. 24 it would not proceed with the next launch opportunity for the mission, which was Sept. 27 at 11:37

TAMPA, Fla. — U.K.-based Avanti Communications is seeking more partnerships to grow its footprint after securing its first major deal to use another regional satellite operator’s capacity. Avanti announced a five-year partnership with Turkey’s Turksat Sept. 13 that pools more than 100 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) of Ka-band capacity between them across Africa and the Middle East.

After completing the NROL-91 mission, ULA will start vacating SLC-6 and consolidate operations at SLC-3 WASHINGTON — A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch a National Reconnaissance Office mission Sept. 24 from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This will be Delta 4’s final launch from the

TAMPA, Fla. — The European Space Agency has tasked an SES-led consortium to develop a satellite and begin operating it in 2024 to validate quantum key distribution (QKD) technology. The group of more than 20 European companies secured a contract for the Eagle-1 satellite that includes three years of missions in low Earth orbit, where

PARIS — One part of an instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope is out of service temporarily, although project officials are confident it will not be a long-term problem. NASA announced Sept. 20 that it had stopped using one of four observing modes on the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST after a mechanism that

Proof-of-principle study: Researchers have demonstrated that smartphones are capable of detecting blood-oxygen saturation levels down to 70%. Subjects place their finger over the camera and flash of a smartphone, which uses a deep-learning algorithm to decipher blood-oxygen levels from the resulting video. (Courtesy: Dennis Wise/University of Washington) Blood-oxygen saturation (SpO2), the percentage of haemoglobin in

PARIS — NASA said it completed all the objectives of a Space Launch System tanking test Sept. 21 despite the reoccurrence of liquid hydrogen leaks. The day-long test at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B involved filling the SLS core stage and upper stage with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, carrying out the “kickstart

PARIS — Arkisys, a Southern California startup developing robotic infrastructure for on-orbit commerce, announced plans Sept. 21 for a spaceflight demonstration of a key technology. In 2023, Arkisys plans to launch Applique, a universal interface adapter designed to connect any spacecraft payload, using a variety of common interface standards and protocols. Funding for the mission comes

Ships may be the lifeblood of the global economy, but they’re dirty and polluting. James McKenzie wonders if a new generation of wind-powered vessels could be the answer Blown away The Oceanbird wind-powered sailing vessel could transform the shipping industry. (Courtesy: Oceanbird) I came across a meme the other day about wind-powered ships, where people

PARIS — SpinLaunch, a company developing a launch system that uses a centrifuge as a first stage, raised $71 million to continue work on that system and a line of satellites. SpinLaunch, based in Long Beach, California, announced Sept. 20 it raised the funding in a Series B round led by ATW Partners, with the

PARIS — NASA officials say they’re ready to try a new approach to fueling the Space Launch System to prevent the return of leaks that scrubbed an earlier launch attempt even though they are not certain what caused that leak. Preparations are underway for the Sept. 21 tanking test of the SLS at Launch Complex